


Finding a way

by AlexisSkyler



Series: Learning to trust [1]
Category: Chicago Med, Chicago PD (TV), NCIS: New Orleans
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Corporal Punishment, Family, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Spanking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28897113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexisSkyler/pseuds/AlexisSkyler
Summary: 14-year old Jay Halsteadt might have bitten of a little more than he could chew when he threw rotten tomateos at his older brother's mentor and  kicked the man his brother consideres a brother, in the balls. But none of that was an invitation for the pair to re-enter his life after two years and turn everything upside down.
Series: Learning to trust [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119299
Comments: 13
Kudos: 29





	1. Desperate

**Author's Note:**

> This is a new story that I aint going to abandon, promise. I'm too emtoionally invested in it ;) If you want to check out other stories I publish quite a bit over on fanfiction (AlexJoSkyler) so if you like this story it might be worth the googling. Anyways, hope you like it and if you do please comment!

Finding a way chapter 1

I pride myself with usually not being this stupid, but with nobody to look out for me and me being stepped on ( or what felt like it ), I did what I had to do, which was attack. That it was my brother’s mentor I attacked, with rotten tomatoes and at a at a school assembly none the less, well that might not have been the best idea. 

The grip on my arm was tight as Chris half pushed/half dragged me into an empty classroom and slammed the door shut behind us.

“What the heck was that?!” He demanded, ever the hothead in my opinion. “Huh?” When I refused to answer and only stared at the wall behind him Chris grabbed my chin gently but firmly and made me meet his eyes. “Jason.”

“Just trying to scare of intruders.”

“We’re intruders now? Since when?! Are you listening to yourself here Jay?!”

“I said what I said, let me go.”

“If I can’t get through to you, then I think King would like to see who drenched him in rotten tomatoes.” I actually blanched at that. King was the last person I wanted to meet. And of course, Chris saw my change in demeanour. “You really are like Will at times.”

“Clearly not enough.” I muttered under my breath.

“Care to repeat that loud enough for me to hear?”

“Will and I are nothing alike.”

“Is this your way of trying to get back at Will for something?”

“That would be stupid.”

“What you did was stupid.”

“No. Stupid was not counting on you following King around like a lap dog.”

“Lap dog? Really Jason?!”

“I call it as I see it.”

“You know what, I’ll just let King deal with you.” I pretended to follow willingly along long enough for Chris to relax ever so slightly and let down his guard. That’s when I really took stupid to a new level. I kicked Christopher Lasalle in the balls.

-Finding a way-

“Jason, you have company!” One look at the car in the driveway told me it wasn’t the kind of company I wanted to have.

“I’m in the shower Mom, tell them to come back!” I knew Chris wouldn’t fall for it so I quickly locked myself in my bathroom and threw of my clothes.

“Jay, get out here, now!” Chris demanded as I jumped into the shower.

“I’m in the shower, didn’t Ma tell you to come back later?!”

“In the middle of the day, Jason?! Get out here before I lose my cool and kick in the door.”

“As I said, I’m showering, come back later if you want to talk.”

“Oh, I want to do more than talk, but we’ll start there.” After that Chris actually went silent. Huh. With a little luck he had decided to go back downstairs to wait me out. No such luck though.

“Jason you have until the count of ten to get your ass out here!” The new voice belonged to my brother Will and I felt my insides turn cold in a matter of seconds. Chris might have reservations about busting my ass, but Will had none whatsoever. Will, who shouldn’t even be out on leave yet. 

“Will?! What are you doing home?!”

“I came to check on you. Looks like it was more needed than I thought it was.”

“Fuck off” It was a moment of rebellion I knew I would have to pay for later, but that moment something took over me.

“I’m not going to do that little brother and you are well aware that I can bring that door down in 10 seconds.”

Shit.

“Sorry. I’ll be out in two minutes tops I swear. Please Will, I have shampoo in my hair.” I begged.

“Okay, but two minutes.”

“Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you please wait outside; I don’t have my clothes and I’d like to change in peace please.”

I didn’t get an answer but the door shutting was enough for me. I threw myself out of the shower as soon as my hair was rinsed and unlocked the door in haste, planning to grab the first clothes I could find and escape through my window. The only problem was, my overly pissed off brother was still in the room, and so was Chris. I knew what was coming but I didn’t have the chance to slam the door in my brother’s face before he had a good grip on me and hauled me over his knee. 

“Can’t I at least put on some clothes first? Please?” I asked Will whining when I felt the cold air hit my backside. “It’s embarrassing.”

“No. I used to change your diapers when you were little, besides I’ve spanked you bare before.”

“It’s not you I’m thinking about.”

“You should be happy that Chris is here checking my temper every second. He’ll make sure I don’t take it too far, which would have been a risk considering you told me to ‘fuck off’. And if it eases your mind, I have a feeling Chris is going to get to see your ass a lot more after this because I’m definitely telling Mom that she needs to give them the all clear to take you in hand.”

“No, don’t! Ow!” It definitely stung more on a wet butt.

“Oh, you are practically begging for them to step up. I haven’t heard all the glory details yet but have no doubt, I’m going to get to that in a minute. In the meantime, you can think about why you won’t tell me to ‘fuck off’ in the future.”

“I’m sorry!”

“I bet you are right now.” It felt like an eternity before Will stopped. “I’m going to have a talk with King, Chris, Mom and Dad about who handles the other half, but I still want answers from you. Will you answer me if I let you up?”

“Yes” I sobbed. Will gently helped me to my feet before wrapping his arms around me in tight hug. “I really am sorry.”

“I know kiddo. I really didn’t want to greet you this way.” Once he released me from the hug, I cast a glance towards Chris who was leaning by the dresser on the opposite side of the room, and opted for getting clothes from my closet instead. 

“I wont bite you.” Chris commented with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not so sure about that.” I replied humourlessly. I would have opted for standing once dressed, but Will pointed for me to sit on the bed.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you want to go back over my knee for lying?”

“No.” 

“Then start answering truthfully.” No way. I wasn’t telling my brother the embarrassing truth, there was no way in hell. So, I sighed and put on an act worthy an Oscar instead.

“I got involved with a couple of older guys, they wanted me to earn a place in their friend group. I didn’t think a couple of tomatoes would be too bad.”

“Who?”

“I’m not giving you names Will. Not when I just earned their respect.”

“Well, they don’t exactly sound like friends you need to be hanging around.” I wasn’t going to comment on that. As far as my brother knew I had lots of friends.

“Okay, I won’t, but I’m still not giving you those names.”

“And I’m still telling Mom that Chris and King should be able to bust your butt if necessary.”

“That’s not necessary! Besides it’s not like I ever see them.” I had pointedly ignored Chris throughout the conversation, but I felt his eyes on me the whole time.

“We were invited to dinner by your mother, so it looks like you will have to see us, kid.” Chris spoke up for the first time.

“I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Point taken.” The fact that Christopher Lasalle gave up so easily didn’t escape my attention, but frankly I had too many other things going on to worry about it right now.

“Let’s call of the rest of this discussion until tonight.” Will proposed, Chris nodded. 

“Keep an eye on the kid, Will. He kicked me in the balls to get away from me last time.”

“You did what?!” I winced at the tone. “Have you at least apologized?!”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t look Chris in the eyes, but I had at least made it sound like I was contrite.

“Okay.”

-Finding a way-

Will had followed Chris’s words to the extent that he had locked my bedroom windows before letting me have some time to myself to think.

“Five minutes Jay. I’m expecting you to be dressed nicely and by the door by then.”

“Sure.”

“Jason.” Wills tone was a clear warning.

“Yes sir.”

“Better.” I groaned and fell back onto the bed. It took me two of my five minutes to force myself to get up from the bed but I knew that I couldn’t show up looking like I was without consequences. Not when I had been told to look nice.

Sighing I got up and threw on a clean pair of jeans and a black button up that I knew my brother would approve of. I drew my hands through my hair while jogging down the stairs and coming to a halt in front of my brother who gave me an approving nod. I was expecting him to say something more but the doorbell rang before he could. I leaned against the wall, arms crossed loosely, as I watched my brother and mother exchange hugs with both King and Chris from the corner of my eye, all the while trying to make it look like I didn’t care.

“Hi Jay.” King greeted kindly and squeezed my shoulder. “It’s good to see you again Buddy.”

“Hi.” King tried to lift my chin but I turned my head away pointedly. I heard him sigh, but he did back of so I considered it a win.

“Jason.”

“Chris.” Neither of us made any attempt of physical contact.

“Why don’t we sit down.” My mother led the way into the dinning room and I got placed in between King and Will much to my frustration. I ignored the conversation around me and focused on chewing the food with my head down.

“How have you been Jay?” King. I knew I couldn’t ignore a direct question no matter how much I felt like it.

“Not bad.” I settled for answering, meeting his eyes with what my brother called my stone face, the one impossible to read. Not even my eyes held an ounce of the anger I felt.

“Good. How’s school going?”

“Okay, I guess.” I shrugged, not volunteering any information.

“A lot of friends I take it?”

“Enough.” My brother was getting worked up over my short answers, I could practically feel him steaming beside me and the hand tapping me once on my thigh was a clear warning to behave.

“When are you heading back, Will?” Chris asked suddenly.

“Two months.”

“Two months?” I asked unsure if I had heard correctly.

“Yes. So plenty of time for me to keep an eye on you.” Shit.

“That’s not necessary Will.” I objected.

“Like it or not, it will still happen.” I didn’t dare glare at him so I settled for fuming silently.

“Speaking of keeping an eye on Jay, how much have you heard about recent events Laura?"

“Will filled me in this afternoon.”

“Would you mind us stepping in?”

“You know I don’t mind King, and neither does Pat, but you shouldn’t have to.”

“We would be happy to. We know it can’t be easy working at the hospital and trying to raise Jay alone at the same time.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.” I objected heatedly. “There is no need.”

“I think there is.” King said with finality.

“But I don’t. And it’s my life so I should get a say in it, right?!”

“Not in this case. Do you trust us Laura?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Do you trust us to treat Jay like Will?”

“Go for it. Maybe you can get through to his head.”

“It’s my life! Doesn’t anybody care about what I think should happen?! Has anybody in this room considered my feelings on the matter?!” I snapped and got up from my chair so that it fell to the floor with a thud.

“Jason.” My Mom tried but I was too worked up to listen.

“Seriously?! You are supposed to have my best interest at heart.”

“She has.” King settled his hand firmly on my arm. “And deep down you know that.”

“I don’t need you.” 

“You’ve got me anyway.”

“And your damn lap dog!”

“Jason!” Will reprimanded me. He had perfected the art of scolding me with one single word.

“What’s wrong with how it’s been the past two years?”

“That me and Chris haven’t been active in your life.” King supplied calmly. “And that will change as of now.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.” I shrugged of Kings hand.

“It wasn’t a question kid. You arguing with me further will not change anything for the better.”

“Screw you.” I was out of the room before either King or Will could react. I would have been out the front door in an instant but I knew I would be caught instantly. Instead, I ran straight into the main floor bathroom and slammed the door shut straight in Will’s face.

“You know a lock isn’t going to stop me.” Will threatened. “So, stop making a scene and come back to the table.” I didn’t respond, being busy with trying to open the small window to the backyard without a sound. “Dammit answer me Jason!”

“I hear you Will.” I heard low voices from the other side of the door as I got the window open. It would be a squeeze, but I was confident I could do it. Using the toilet as a step stool I managed to squeeze through the window and landed pretty much unharmed in Mom’s flower garden. “Sorry Mom.” I muttered beyond thankful that I couldn’t be spotted from the dining room.

-Finding a way-

I woke up shivering from the cold. Because of the alarm system I knew that I couldn’t go back inside the house undetected but I started contemplating if a night outside would do any good. It was nearly 10 o’clock and I knew that I had to make a decision soon unless I wanted to appear as a burglar. One shudder later and I realized that I could take off again tonight if needed with a bag of essentials but that I would freeze to death out here if I didn't go inside sooner rather than later. There was a sudden creak against one of the boards I used to climb up here and I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden sight of King.

“Hello there.” I scooted backwards protectively without a word. To be found so newly awake was messing with my emotions. “Are you scared of me Jay?” King asked as he settled down onto the floor of the tree house.

“What?”

“Are you scared of me?” He repeated and sat down at the wall across from me. 

“No. Of course not.” I may be angry at him but I had no reason to be afraid of him. He searched my face for a moment longer and I didn’t bother trying to hide how ridiculous the question had seemed to me.

“Good. Because I would never hurt you.”

“You want to spank me.”

“You grew up with spankings so you know it isn’t the same thing.” I did know that, but there was no need for King to know that. “And I hardly want to spank you, but I do think you deserve a spanking for the grief you’ve put your mother through the past couple of hours.”

I looked down a little shamefaced at that.

“I didn’t mean to.”

“What did you mean by taking off?” I shrugged.

“You were pretty angry at the dinner table, wouldn’t you agree?” I nodded hesitantly not knowing where he was going with it. “But not at your mother necessarily, If I heard you correctly your real anger starts and finishes with me and Chris. Your brother might hold part of your anger for involving us, but if you think about it you involved us first.”

“Was there a hidden question somewhere?” I asked sassily.

“Who are you really angry at?”

“Didn’t you answer that question already?”

“Chris and I are going to be more active in your life again.”

“Again?” I snorted. “When have you ever been active in my life?”

“When your brother still lived at home.” I couldn’t hide my reaction to the blunt statement and I saw that King had suspected it having to do something with it.

“Screw you.”

“One more bit of foul language out of you and I’ll turn you over my knee right here. You may not like me all that much Jay, but you’ll still treat me with respect. Understood?” King’s tone held a clear warning and had gone from soft and understanding to stern in a matter of seconds.

“Yes.” He held my gaze until I relented. “sir.”

“Much better.”

“What do you want from me?”

“The truth.”

“It’s not like I’ve lied.”

“Not to me, but to your family, and Chris.”

“Have you spoken to Dad?” I asked, deeming it safest to change the topic.

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“He wants to talk to you.” I nodded at that, having expected it.

“Look Jay, this is how it will go. Nothing much will happen tonight but you can start by climbing down from here and go inside to face your mother and brother.”

“You are only going to spank me if I get down.”

“If I wanted to spank you, I could have done it up here.”

“Will won’t hesitate.”

“I told him I’d handle you.”

“He won’t listen.”

“He will if he doesn’t want a taste.”

“I’d rather face Will than you.”

“Why?”

“Because he actually cares.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them and I got up to my feet, clamping my mouth shut and turning my back towards King, pretending like the damage wasn't already done.

“Kid if I didn’t care I wouldn’t have spent the last few hours searching for you.” He must have sensed that his reassuring words didn’t get rid of all the reservations I felt, so he simply said: “Come on.” 

I hesitantly followed him down the ladder and as soon as my feet had hit solid ground, he had clamped a firm hand onto my neck, making sure I stayed on course towards the hourse. I tried getting out of the grip he had, but one firm ‘Jason’ had me stop trying. For now. 

>


	2. Moving forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get too used to this updating schedule with this kind of chapter length at least. This is double the length of my usual chapters, but I'm really trying here guys and chapter 3 is on it's way. Hope you like it!

Chapter 2

"Jason!" Mom had me in a bear hug within seconds and once she let me go, I could see her tear-stained face all too well.

"I'm sorry." I really meant it.

"Kiddo running away is never the answer, you know that." I nodded.

"I really am sorry for worrying you."

"Jay." _Will. Shit._ "Dad would like a word with you."

I reluctantly took the offered phone and looked straight into my father's worried face.

"I think it goes without saying that whatever your reasons, this wasn't the way. Am I right?"

"Yes sir."

"I expect you to listen to both your Mom and Will as well as King and Chris. Will has brought me up to speed on the situation so no amount of arguing will change it. Understood?". Those were the exact words I hadn't wanted to hear. I respected my Dad too much to lie to him and saying I was going to do something and not doing it was lying in his book. "Jason?" He prompted when I didn't answer right away.

"Yes sir. I get it." I reluctantly answered.

"Make sure you do, son. I have to go, but I'm relieved you are safe and sound. Don't ever scare us like that again Jay. I aged at least 10 years while you were missing."

"I won't, Dad."

"Goodnight Jay. I miss you, kiddo."

"Good night Dad. I miss you too." I handed the phone back to Will without a word, going back to biting my lip nervously.

"You scared me." Will said seriously once he had ended the call with our Dad.

"I'm sorry."

"King asked to deal with you but if it ever happens again both King and Dad will have to stand in line, do you get me?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." He brought me into a tight hug that I half-heartedly returned. "Everything will be okay kiddo."

"We've all agreed that the easiest way to make the transition is for you to jump head first into it. With other words, you are coming home with me tonight." King explained once Will let me go.

"What?! No way."

"It wasn't a question Jay."

"Don't call me Jay."

"It wasn't a question _Jason_. Will put together a go bag for you."

"Traitor." I hissed at him but Will only returned my angry stare with crossed arms and a look that told me he thought I was ridiculous. "How long?"

"A week at least, but it depends on you."

"And my opinion is that one night is already too long."

"It depends on you in the sense that it's up to you how fast you learn to trust, listen to and lean on us again." King explained calmly.

"Trust has to be earned."

"That it has." King agreed, not taking the bait. "Grab your bag, it's late and I'd like to get you settled before midnight." I tried staring him down, but he wouldn't even blink, so I angrily grabbed my bag and headed for the door ready to storm out in a huff, but was stopped by a firm hand on the back of my neck.

"What now?!"

"Say good night to your family first."

"Good night Ma."

"It will be good for you, trust us Jay. Good night baby." I only nodded in response.

"Good night Will."

"Good night Trouble."

"Don't call me that." I scowled at Will. Most of this was his fault anyway. If he wouldn't have talked to our parents then King and Chris wouldn't have gotten permission to deal with me.

"Come on then, let's go." The ride to King's place was silent. I sat glaring out the window, silently fuming and refusing to engage in any conversation or let the tears behind my eye lids fall. When the car finally stopped, I jumped out and headed for the trunk to get my bag. I slung it over my shoulder slammed the trunk shut as hard as I dared slam it, before stomping after King towards the front door. Chris had fallen into step behind me, effectively keeping me on the right track.

"Welcome. If you take of your shoes, I'll take you straight upstairs. I think you could use some sleep tonight rather than a full house tour." I nodded once, kicking of my shoes in the entry way, not caring that I could see footprints on the wall from where they had hit it on their way to the floor. I could practically feel Chris radiate of controlled anger behind me, but after a silent conversation with King, he stayed silent.

King had moved sometime in the past two years so I had no idea where the guest room was, otherwise I probably would have showed myself there during their non-verbal conversation, that for reasons I wasn't even sure of myself, made me angrier than I already had been. I followed the pair up the stairs, not trying to hide my displeasure of having to be here.

"Here's your room." Chris nodded towards the second door on the right. "The bathroom is across the hall."

"Okay."

"Good night Jay."

"Don't call me that." I scowled angrily at Chris.

"Why not? The whole family calls you Jay."

"Exactly. My _family_ does." I had honestly not thought that the words would hit Chris as hard as they seemed to and Chris was even speechless for a moment before shaking his head exasperated and repeating himself.

"Good night…Jason." Seeing his hurt face almost made me want to take back my hurtful words, but I reminded myself of who I was talking to so instead I stepped inside my room for the week and shut the door behind me without bidding him good night. It was long after I heard both Chris's and King's bedroom doors close that I gave into the tears.

_-Finding a way-_

"Morning." I hesitantly made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. I had showered and dressed in some sweats and a black T-shirt. I left my hair the way it was though, not feeling like doing anything with it.

"Good morning Jason." The sound of Jason coming from King's lips sounded utterly ridiculous, but I didn't want him calling me Jay either.

"Where is Chris?"

"Chris went home to change. He'll be back later. Sit down wherever you'd like."

"Preferably in my own kitchen."

"Not an option."

"Is there any comment that will get you riled up?"

"Is that your mission? To see how far you can get before I start yelling?" King asked calmly and pointed to a chair.

"I was going for throwing me out so I can go back home, but I guess that's a step in the right direction."

"Real funny Jay." King answered humourlessly.

"I thought so." I answered, proud over having annoyed him even the slightest.

"Eat up. We've got a long day ahead of us."

"I usually make a smoothie for breakfast."

"Today you are having eggs." King answered firmly. Once again not rising to the bait.

"Sure." I rolled my eyes simply to annoy him.

"The day is going to go as follows; first we are going to deal with you running off yesterday and then we are going to talk about what's been going on with you overall."

"With all due respect King, I don't get what I'm doing here. I see zero reason for it. Jay or Mom could have dealt with it."

"You being here is you getting used to the idea that Chris and I are going to be more active in your life again, without the chance of you doing anything stupid."

"I don't see the need for you to do so." I told him challenging. "I've been perfectly fine without you."

"Enough is enough Jason." The sudden sharpness in King's tone had me shrinking back into my chair and looking at him wide-eyed. It was a tone I barely ever had heard him use and it had never meant good things for me in the past. "You are going to finish your breakfast and then we are going to talk about yesterday. Everything you want to say about the future can wait until after."

"Yes sir." I shifted my gaze from King to my food and finished eating it in silence.

"Did you brush teeth yet?"

"Yeah." I answered softly. King taking that tone to me had definitely shaken me up good for some reason, and I hated it.

"Let's go sit down in the living room then." King said much gentler than before, but still with a hint of sternness. Once we had gotten seated, King across from me, he started of the discussion:

"Why did you run?"

"Will was mad."

"I think your brother has been mad at you before."

"Yeah, but I knew he wasn't happy with me to begin with."

"So, you were scared of Will?"

"Scared of the punishment he was about to dole out maybe, but not of Will. He'd never _actually_ hurt me."

"So why run then?" I shrugged. "Words please."

"It was a ten second decision. I didn't put a lot of thought into it."

"Why stay away then for so long if there wasn't a good reason behind you running?"

"I guess it was easier to stay hidden than face everybody."

"Was running from your problems the right decision?"

"Dad already…" King's face told me to shut up really quick, so I did.

"Let's try it again, was running away the right decision?" The stern tone that had me wishing for a hole to appear in the floor, was back.

"No, sir."

"Why not?"

"I shouldn't have worried Mom and Jay that way."

"No, you shouldn't have." King agreed. "Anything else you'd like to say?"

"Nothing I haven't already said."

"Okay then, stand up." King switched from sitting on the edge of the coffee table to taking my seat on the couch. With far more gentleness than I expected, King lowered me over his lap and made sure I was as comfortable as I could be. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"I tried to go down memory lane, but I can't remember if you've ever gotten an actual spanking from me or not."

"I'm not my brother."

"Meaning?"

"That I wasn't around you enough to ever cross that line."

"You can grip my leg as tight as you want and scream as much as you like, but if you kick, bite, scratch me or cuss at me, you'll earn extra swats. And if you try to run, we'll start over from the beginning. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"What am I spanking you for, Jay?"

"Taking off and worrying my family."

"Good boy." King didn't leave me hanging for long and the first swat took my breath away. I either had a short memory or King spanked harder than both my Dad and brother does. It didn't take long for the heat to build up to the point where I gave up all pretences of not caring. Instead, my squirming turned into kicking and even though I had anticipated it King suddenly tipped me forward and landed six heavy swats to my sit-spots. "Stop kicking Jason."

"Easy for you to say." I bit out in between swats, but I did try harder not to kick anymore. Those swats had made me wonder what the heck King did in his free-time, his hand was worse than a paddle.

"I don't expect you to like me all that much at the moment but I asked you for one thing Jason, and what was that?"

"Respect." I grudgingly answered, the spanking starting to get to me.

"And is back talk respectful?"

"No sir."

"Good boy. We are almost done." King did finish off with a couple to my sit-spots but they didn't have the same strength or sharpness to them as the ones I had gotten for kicking. Didn't mean I would be sitting comfortably anytime soon though.

King righted me gently and the hug that followed almost, just almost, made it worth it. I melted into King's arms for a moment, letting myself enjoy it for a few seconds before forcing myself to push away from his chest, tears still running down my face.

"There is no shame in accepting a hug, son." King almost sounded sad.

"May I go upstairs?" I asked, swiping furiously at the tears.

"Of course. I'll call you down for lunch." I felt King's eyes on me the whole way upstairs.

_-Finding a way-_

"Ready to talk some more?" King asked once we had finished eating lunch quietly.

"There is nothing to talk about."

"There is loads to talk about" King corrected me. "Starting with why you wanted our attention so badly."

"I didn't. I did those pranks on you to earn a spot in a group. Nothing more to it. You finding out it was me wasn't exactly planned."

"I don't believe you." My heart started racing at that. If the true story got out…

"Will did. And he actually knows me, so…"

"And I'm an NCIS agent, I know how to read people's body language, and you Jason Halstead aren't telling the truth."

"Maybe you should change career paths then, because I am."

"One."

"What?"

"One." King repeated calmly. "One out of three warnings you'll get before consequences."

"You can't just accuse me without any proof!"

"This would be a good time to re-introduce you to my rules. And for the record your brother has the same set of rules. First rule; no lying. That includes lying by omission and leaving out parts of the truth. Repeat it back to me please."

"No lying." I repeated.

"Including?"

"Lying by omission or leaving out parts of the truth. I know the rules, King." As soon as I had admitted it, I wanted to bang my head against the table.

"I thought so too. But you've been dropping enough hints about us not being in your life to begin with so I wanted to make sure that they were clear. If you know them though, please tell me."

"No lying, no putting myself in danger, respect, eye contact…" At which point I grudgingly forced myself to make eye contact with King. "And either staying within your sight or telling you where I'm going if I'm at your place."

"Good boy." The unexpected praise had me blushing and breaking eye contact. "I mean it. Come here." I hesitantly rounded the table and King engulfed me in one of his famous bear hugs once more. I felt myself relaxing once more, against my will and it was definitely harder to keep myself from enjoying it. It was as if King was able to see the battle within me of whether to open up or not because he squeezed me even tighter. "I hope you know that Chris and I both are proud of you and care for you, no matter what." I ignored the words best as I could and gave myself a couple of more seconds of enjoying the hug before I pushed away firmly. I wouldn't let myself fall in the trap of believing King actually cares about me.

"Ready to tell me?" He asked when I stood awkwardly before him once more. I shook my head frantically.

"Okay. For now."

"When is Chris coming back?" I asked, taking another step backwards.

"I'm not exactly sure. He wanted to give the two of us a couple of hours, which reminds me…I've gotten the impression that you are angrier at Chris than you are at me, is that correct?"

"I haven't said that I am angry at either one of you."

"Jay…" I ducked my head at the reprimand.

"Okay, yeah. But I still withhold that it would be easier for all of us to just continue with our lives as they have been."

"No game."

"Can I call Will?" I asked after a moment's silence.

"Okay." King fished up his phone and unlocked it, pulling up Will's number on the screen. "You can go up to your room if you want to, but frankly I don't trust you in the backyard alone so no heading outside, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." I replied, already jogging up the stairs.

"Everything alright with Jay?" Will asked as soon as he answered.

"No." I replied.

"Jay. What's going on?"

"I lied to you and King figured it out, but I can't tell either one of you what's really going on." I felt the tears start rolling down my cheeks. "And now I feel bad because King figured it out and you didn't and that's just wrong!"

"Take a deep breath Jay." I took a couple of shaky ones before speaking again.

"I just don't know what to do."

"Tell them the truth. We all have an idea of what's going on kiddo, but we want you to say it."

"What do you think is going on?" I asked tentatively, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

"You resent them for not sticking around, that's why you are angry and hurt which is why you'd rather do anything else but spend time with them."

"Why are you forcing me to do so then if you know I don't want to see them?!"

"Because part of you clearly wants them around."

"No, I don't."

"You threw rotten tomatoes at King and kicked Chris in the balls, if that wasn't an invitation for them to come back then I don't know what is."

"That makes no sense."

"It does actually. You knew that they wouldn't just let you go."

"I don't want them to be a part of my life Will." I withheld stubbornly.

"Tough. Not much you can do about it except accept the situation."

"That's not going to happen."

"You are only making it worse for yourself, kiddo."

"I have to go." I lied, tired of the conversation.

"Think about it at least."

"Maybe. Bye." I didn't wait for Will's goodbye before ending the call and sitting back against the headboard. Will knew. _Fuck._

_-Finding a way-_

The knock on my door came too soon.

"Did you figure it out with Will?" I shrugged, not having the energy to keep track of another lie, but not willing to tell him the truth either. "That doesn't look too promising, and it might be hard right now, but the two of you will get through it."

"How much have you talked to Will? About me, I mean." I asked, finally gathering up courage to ask what had been on my mind.

"Quite a lot. Why?"

"Just wondered."

"You just wondered if I knew Will's theory of what's going on." King stated knowingly. "And I do."

"How…?" I asked him mind blown. Too surprised to keep up the pretence of indifference.

"I'm a fast learner. You are a bit easier to read, kid, than you like to think,"

"I'm not a kid."

"I know, but for me kid is a form of kiddo, so you'll have to live with it."

"What if Will is wrong?" I asked, willing myself to look like Will's theory was utterly ridiculous.

"I don't think he is."

"He is."

"Is he?"

"Yes." I continued lying.

"I'm going to stop you right there because that was the third lie to my face. One more and its consequences before we continue with the conversation."

"I'm not lying." I tried to look as earnest as I could, but King just sighed disappointed.

"Stand up."

"Why?" I asked backing further into the headboard.

"Because that was the fourth lie which equals consequences."

"You have no way of knowing if that's true or not." I protested.

"Do you really want to return to the conversation about me being an NCIS agent?"

"Well, you really don't." I repeated my point, but it sounded weak even to my own ears. King's eyes darkened and I quickly turned away my gaze.

"Stand up. We'll revisit this conversation sooner rather than later, but I think I need to start getting rid of that lying habit of yours first." When I made no move to do as asked, King easily lifted me of the bed and flipped me over his knee at the same time as he sat down on my bed.

"Not fair." I kicked a little for emphasis earning me a series of stinging swats I wasn't ready for, causing tears to already start pooling in my eyes. I felt like a child throwing a temper tantrum, but couldn't stop myself.

"Maybe not. I know it wasn't fair of us to leave you on your own for two years and then suddenly show an interest in you again, but it wasn't out of meanness Jason and once you are ready to listen to our side of the story, you'll find out that there is a lot you don't know about. Until you are ready though and keep giving me attitude and lying to my face, this will keep happening. The only one you are hurting by continuing to lie is yourself." As if King knew I wasn't about to offer an answer he started spanking me, not giving me a warning this time. On a butt that had gotten spanked only hours earlier it didn't take long for me to start struggling for real. King held me tightly against him with an arm around my midriff and to my big surprise I couldn't get free no matter how much I tried.

"Stop! Ow! I hate you!" My butt felt like a thousand bees had stung it and I really couldn't take much more.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"No!" I protested when he tilted me forward to target my sit spots.

"You brought this on yourself." King said with no sympathy. When he was done spanking, I was lying imp over his lap, only having enough energy to protest when he tried to righten me. I knew that if he brought me into a hug right now, I wouldn't be able to push myself away. "You're okay." King settled for rubbing circles on my back and it actually helped me get my bearings back. It took me far longer than I had hoped it would-but eventually my full-blown sobs turned into small hiccups and uneven breaths. When even those had died down thanks to King, I didn't mind being helped to my feet.

"I'm sorry I had to do that. Two spankings in one day isn't any fun, is it?"

"No. I'm kind of sorry I made you do it."

"I bet you are." King smiled warmly, handing me a tissue for me to blow my nose with. "I know you don't want to do this, but we are going to continue while you have a fresh reminder to behave. Please don't make me spank you a third time today, Jason."

"I won't." I tried to back a couple of steps but King halted me with a gentle hand on my arm.

"I'd prefer if you stayed right here." I grimaced at the request, but I didn't want to risk my butt anymore today so I stayed where I was. "Thankyou. Now, why are you angrier at Chris than you are at me?"

"I…" I took a deep breath before answering: "I saw Chris in the park a couple of weeks ago. He was coaching a little league baseball team and I was curious, so I stayed and watched for a couple of minutes."

"Go on."

"Chris looked right at me twice, but when I waived, he turned his head away, not acknowledging me the least. So I left with an even clearer picture of what I mean to you guys."

"I think you need to talk to Chris about that. You know, it might not be that black and white."

"He made it clear back then and besides, at school he was ready to give me over to you within a couple of minutes. I don't want to force Chris, or you for that matter, to be a part of my life. That wouldn't be fair to anybody."

"Talk to Chris. Only the two of you can talk it out and decide what part he is going to have in your life."

"When will he be back?" I asked resigned to the fact that Chris and I would have to talk at some point to move forward.

"In an hour or so."

"Okay."

"Is there any place that you have seen me recently? Cause as far as I know the only time, I've seen you in the past year was a month ago in the grocery store. You locked eyes with me for five seconds before turning on you heel and rushing the other way." I blushed at the memory. I had panicked at the sight of King and had literally ran the other way.

"That was the only time."

"Did I scare you of that day? You said up in your treehouse that you aren't scared of me but I can't help but wonder…"

"I'm not scared of you, I'm really not, King. I just panicked."

"Like when you took of yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think we should try to cure that habit in the future?"

"I guess."

"Good boy." I blushed again, this time at the praise.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Fixing things with you?"

"Yeah."

"Because I really do care about you."

"Funny way of showing it."

"Towing the line Jason, but if you are ready to listen, I can tell you what really happened."

"As ready as I'll ever be."


	3. The next level of trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, Jay might not be ready to handle the truth and has to deal with the consequenses of his actions.

_A/N: I’m sorry it has taken me so long to update but life has been really busy and I got stuck halfway through this chapter. I have not given up on this story, I promise._

**Chapter 3: The next level of trouble**

”A beer, please.” The gruff bartender raised his eyebrows at me with a humoured look, no doubt at how young I looked, but gave up at the sight of my fake ID and gave me the requested beer. I chose a boot where I had a clear visual of both the front door and the bar area, so that I could keep lookout. I was after all a 14-year-old alone in a bar. I had only had a few sips of the bear when the door sung open and a couple of men and women in their early twenties entered. My gut had a bad feeling about them that turned out to be true. The last one through the door, smiling and laughing, was Chris.

He had yet to see me so I slipped further into the booth while twisting the cap on my head so that it shaded as much of my face as possible. Next with a quick look towards the bar where Chris was highly preoccupied, I slid the black hood of my hoodie over my head so as to show even less of myself. Chris and his friends had gotten their drinks by now and I watched from the corner of my eye as they scanned the space for an empty booth. I could feel Chris’s eyes linger on me for a moment longer than necessary, but then move on. I felt his eyes on me again though as he moved to follow his friends, but took a sip of my beer as he passed and kept my head low.

“Hang on a sec.” I heard him say. “I have a bad feeling about this.” Chris turned around his eyes glued to me as he said it. There was some nonverbal communication between them then before Chris said: “Hey Billy, why don’t you and Sam get some more drinks.” I also had a bad feeling, so once they had passed me and Chris still hadn’t slid into his booth, I took a few more sips and stood up, careful to keep my head away from Chris, only to walk straight into his two friends.

“Leaving?” I nodded my head and tried to brush past them but was stopped. “We’d like a quick word with you before that. NOPD” _Shit_. I felt a presence behind me so I didn’t dare turn around that way either. “Why don’t you sit down again?” I knew it wasn’t a suggestion so I started to walk back towards my booth, but made a run for it as soon as I saw an opening. It wasn’t big, but one of them took their eyes off of me for a second to look at Chris and it was all I needed. I tackled the man into the bar and spurted towards the door. To my big surprise I even made it outside, but the victory was short lived and I felt myself getting roughly tackled to the ground in the parking lot.

“Ow!”

“Suit yourself, if you hadn’t tried to run you wouldn’t be hurt the least. All we wanted was a quick word with you.” I felt handcuffs snap my wrists together and deemed myself defeated.

“Who do we have here?” I heard Chris ask.

“No idea yet. Do you have anything sharp on you?” I shook my head and was hoisted up before I was patted down. Once they were sure that I was unarmed Chris reached for my hood.

“Let’s see who we are dealing with.” I tried to move my head out of reach, but Chris got a good grip on my hood and I was doomed. “Jay?! Keep an eye on him!” Chris growled. He moved to pace back and forth a few steps away from me for a couple of minutes before returning to stand in front of me. Meanwhile one of the others had found my fake ID and handed it to him.

“You mean to tell me this young one isn’t 21?” One of his friends asked with a humoured glint in his eye. “And that his name isn’t Josh Hannover?”

“This kid is basically my little brother. He’s 14 and his name is Jason Halsted. If one of you ever see him in a bar again, call me.”

“Will do.” One of them promised.

“Will’s little brother?” One of the girls asked.

“Yeah.” Chris answered at the same time as I nodded my head in answer.

“Don’t kill him Chris.”

“He’ll wish I had.”

“Are you authorized to deal with him?” I wasn’t sure if she was asking for mine or Chris’s sake.

“Yeah. I have permission from his parents.”

“Are you planning to?” The girl asked seriously. “Cause if you are going to do that in this state…”

“Don’t worry Kelly, I’ll bring him to King’s, deal with him tomorrow once I’m calmer.”

“Good, I just had to make sure.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Sorry for the trouble guys.”

“Don’t apologize, we’re just happy we picked this place tonight instead of our go-to.” Kelly insisted.

“Jay, have you got something to say?” Chris asked.

“Sorry for the trouble.” I muttered, looking at the ground rather than them.

“Don’t do it again, kid.”

“After I get through with him, he definitely won’t.” Chris grabbed a hold of my neck and none to gently led me to his car after unlocking the handcuffs and handing them back to Sam. “If you run, I’ll give you double, so don’t.” I nodded defeated. Most of the ride was silent but as we neared King’s house Chris suddenly asked:

“I just don’t understand why you’d do something like this Jay. King finally trusts you enough to leave you outside for a few moments and you pull a stunt like this…I’m at loss here Jason.”

I shrugged, not feeling like explaining my actions.

“You are not just hurting yourself anymore, Jay. You are hurting King as well.”

“But not you.”

“No. You can’t lose trust you didn’t have to begin with.” That hurt more than I had expected it to, and over tired and emotional as I was, I couldn’t come up with a better answer than:

“Whatever”

“You try really hard to look like you don’t care, but I know you do Jason. I heard you cry that first night.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. If it had been Will, I would have checked up on him, but I know you aren’t your brother and that you didn’t want King or I to know.”

“You were right about that.”

“Will told me what he thinks is the matter here.”

“He is wrong.”

“Short memory, kid? King told me about your talk this afternoon.”

“Doesn’t mean I need either one of you.”

“No, but you’ve got us anyway.”

“It isn’t fair that I don’t have a choice.”

“Will didn’t have much of one either, that’s just the way we operate.”

“Never thought of changing your methods?”

“Not really, no. They do usually work wonders, especially on stubborn teenagers like yourself.”

“I’m not that stubborn.”

“Oh yes you are.” Chris answered, with the tiniest hint of a smile. “But luckily for you it doesn’t scare us away.”

“Luckily?!” We had pulled into King’s driveway by now.

“Do you really think you kicked me in the balls for no reason what so ever? Your Dad is deployed on the other side of the world and your Mom works twelve hour shifts at the hospital. With Will at medical school in New York, that leaves you alone more than you should be and whether you like it or not you and alone isn’t a good combination. I reached out to your teachers yesterday and your grades have been dropping more and more lately, something I’m sure neither your parents nor Will are aware of.”

“I’ll fix my grades.”

“With the help of me and King, you bet your ass you will.”

“You don’t even like me.”

“Where in the world did you get that idea from? Did you even hear me back there, Jay? You are like a little brother to me.”

“You ignored me.”

“When?”

“At the ballpark.”

“I’m not following.”

“A couple of weeks ago. You were coaching little league.”

“I never even saw you, kiddo.”

“You stared right at me two times but when I waved you turned away.”

“I swear, I never saw you.” Chris repeated.

“Forget it.” No matter how much I wanted to believe him, the memory was too fresh on my mind to do so. Done with the discussion, I turned towards the door to get out of the car, but Chris’s hand on my shoulder halted me.

“No. Not if it matters to you, which it clearly does. I swear Jason, I don’t remember seeing you.”

“Fine.”

“Wait a second, do you know more exactly when it was?”

“Saturday, two weeks ago. Do you know how long I stood there trying to decide whether it would be a good idea to wave or not?! And when I finally decided to take the first step you ignored me.”

“You were wearing a blue hoodie and blue jeans, right?”

“Right.” I clipped back. Chris had really seen me after all.

“I think I remember seeing you, cause I asked King later that day if he had heard from you in a while, but I wasn’t sure if it really was you.”

“I waved.”

“I didn’t see you. Really kid, those kids are more of a handful than you. I can take my eyes off of them for less than ten seconds at a time. I must have turned back around or focused on one of the kids by then. I wish I would have seen you though. If you would have stayed to the end of the practice we could have talked.”

“So it’s my fault as usual?!”

“That’s not what I said.” Chris’s tone got a stern edge to it that I had been lucky to not hear for years. “You’ve got to stop twisting my words Jay.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. How much did you have to drink before we showed up?”

“One sip.” I lied. Chris’s eyes darkened.

“I can still tell when you lie.”

“I’m not lying.”

“And I’m the pope.” A warning bell inside me went off, alerting me that I was pushing Chris too far too fast.

“Okay. Fine. A few, but no more than five.” Chris nodded, satisfied with my answer.

“The only reason I asked is because I care about you Jay, like it or not. Keep that in mind, please.” I nodded once to show him that I heard him, but I wasn’t ready to offer an answer, just yet. “King was really worried about you, so he’ll want to fuss over you for a couple of minutes, but then I expect you to go to bed. It’s already way past your curfew.”

“Did Will tell you?” I asked surprised at Chris knowing when my curfew was. The curfew I had made a habit of ignoring when my Mom worked nights or later than usually.

“Yes. We all agreed to keep some things like you normally have them so the change wouldn’t be to overwhelming for you.” I was touched by the thought, but tried hard to not show it. “Come on, let’s go inside, we can continue the conversation tomorrow.

-Finding a way-

“Good morning.” When I stepped into the kitchen the following morning both King and Chris turned away from their conversation and gave me their full attention.

“Morning. Sit down. We need to talk and you need to eat something.” Chris ordered me.

“Okay.”

“We came far last night, don’t start shutting us out again.” It was as much a plea as an order and I knew it would be futile to try to take any of what I said yesterday back.

“I won’t.” I sighed my agreement.

“Good to see that you are listening to them.”

“Will!” Despite still being pissed off at my brother I rushed up and threw my arms around him in a bear hug.

“Hey Kiddo.” He laughed and dropped the bag to the floor so that he could steady himself, while I hanged on as he straightened up and clung to him like a koala since he was quite a bit taller than me. “How are you doing?”

“Getting there.” I answered honestly, pushing my face away from his shirtfront long enough to answer.

“Good. Chris told me that you two made some real headway last night. I’m really proud of you for that Jay.”

“After he busted me for drinking.” I admitted, blushing.

“Yeah, he mentioned that too. Not your smartest move. Speaking of, are there any more fake ID: s in your possession?”

“No. Chris has the only one.”

“Have you used it before?”

“I’ve come close to, but, no, I’ve never gone through with it.” I answered him honestly, leaning my head against his shoulder. I loved my brother and despite being mad at him for inviting Chris and King into my life again, he was a safe harbour for me. I knew he loved me and only wanted what was best for me, even if we didn’t always agree on what that was.

“Where did you get it?”

“Wi-ill” I whined, not wanting to be a snitch.

“Tell me Jason.”

“A kid at school sells them. They aren’t perfect as you noticed and in good lighting it definitely wouldn’t work, but it got me that beer.”

“Who?”

“I’m not a snitch!”

“No one needs to know it was you.”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Fine-for now. Come on, hop down, you need to eat your breakfast.” Will gave me a light swat to get me moving.

“What are you doing here anyway?” I asked Will while taking a bite of my breakfast.

“Checking up on you, and I brought you a few things you might want.”

“What?” I asked curiously, knowing all three would yell at me to sit down if I even thought about checking the bag before I had finished eating.

“Your sketch block and pens, another change of clothes and a soccer ball so you can spend some quality time with these guys.”

“Thankyou.”

“You are welcome.” Will smiled and leaned his head against King’s shoulder. Seeing my brother so open and comfortable with King and Chris was nothing new, but I had a newfound perspective on it now.

“You are still drawing then, I take it?” Chris asked with a genuine smile.

“A little.”

“A lot.” My brother corrected me and I scowled in his direction. I redirected my attention in time for King and Chris to exchange a serious glance.

“What?”

“Why lie about something so small?” Chris asked with a tone that I couldn’t decipher.

“I don’t know.” The atmosphere in the kitchen had gone from warm and cosy to serious tinted with disappointment in a matter of seconds. “It just slipped out.” I defended myself at the unimpressed faces I was met with at my explanation. “It will take longer than two days for me to rewire my automatic responses towards you, you know.”

“We are aware of that Jason, but I still don’t get why you felt the need to lie about drawing a lot just because Chris asked you.” King’s tone was definitely disappointed and I ducked my head at the scolding. The situation had snowballed fast and I didn’t feel the least in control anymore so I did the only thing I could think of doing: I apologized.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Thank you for the apology.”

“I really didn’t mean to.” Chris nodded.

“Eat your breakfast. You and I need to talk.”

-Finding a way-

“Come on, let’s get it over with.”

“How come it’s you who is handling this?”

“Because I’m the one that busted you and King thinks it might actually get you to respect me a bit more.”

“That won’t happen.”

“We’ll see.”

“Can’t King do it?” I pleaded. Although King had only spanked me twice, I already knew what to expect. Chris on the other hand was unknown territory and that scared me.

“No.”

“Why not?! I defied him, not you.”

“I already explained why. Come on, stalling won’t do you any good.”

“Coming over there won’t do me any good either.” Chris cracked a small smile at that.

“For your butt; no, but for your conscience it actually will. Trust me.”

“I don’t.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I regretted my smart mouth instantly when I saw Chris’s smile fade.

“Do I need to start counting Jason?”

“No.”

“Then get your butt over here.” I weighed my options for a moment, but realizing that I didn’t actually have much of a choice, I forced myself to walk over to Chris, stopping just out of reach.

“Spanking isn’t the solution to everything, you know.”

“It is a good solution to your disobedience and smart mouth.”

“I doubt that.”

“What happened to the progress we made last night?” Chris sounded irritated now and I didn’t answer. “Fine. Spanking first then, explanation afterwards.” I startled tried to back away, but Chris was too fast and had me over his lap in the blink of an eye. I felt Chris hook his fingers in the waist band of my sweats and tried to buck of his lap, but his other hand had a good grip on my waist and he easily pulled first my sweats and then my boxers down. He didn’t pull them down further than they needed to go, but I still blushed embarrassed.

“Chri-i-is. Don’t.”

“This is your third spanking within 24 hours Jay, I need to see what I’m doing so that I don’t bruise you accidentally.” Chris explained calmly. I resigned myself to my faith and gripped Chris’s pant leg hard in preparation. “You are getting spanked for taking off and worrying us yesterday.”

“Not for drinking?” I asked surprised.

“I don’t think your ass can handle that conversation yet so we’ll go over that separately tomorrow night once your butt has had some time to cool down.”

“Lovely.” I spat out sarcastically.

“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” Chris replied without sympathy before starting. Just like with King the sting of the first swat caught me off guard and my whole body went rigid.

“Ow!” Chris offered me no sympathies as he settled into a steady rhythm. “Do you do this often?” I grunted out smartly between swats a minute later as the heat really started to build.

“My last time was a year ago. But I’m taking your question as a sign that I haven’t lost my touch.”

“Will?” I asked curiously.

“Who else?” Chris snorted, keeping a watchful eye on the state of my butt as he kept on going, founding new spanking ground in my almost ignored tights.

“I’m sorry!” I shrieked when Chris after way too long moved to my undercurve. “Chris!”

“That’s good, but we still have some way to go before we are done.” The determination could be heard in his voice and after a particularly hard swat I stopped struggling and went limp over his lap, resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t be done before Chris determined me thoroughly dealt with.

What felt like ten years but probably was a couple of minutes, Chris finally stopped and moved his hand to rub soothing circles on my back. I didn’t make any move to move my sobbing body off of his lap and Chris let me stay there sobbing hard into his leg.

“It’s over with.”

“Not totally.” I protested.

“Do you want us to handle the drinking now as well?”

“No.” It was tempting but I knew I couldn’t handle more right now. My ass was already more on fire than it ever had been before.

“I hope you know that I didn’t like doing that Jason.”

“From the state of my butt I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“You deserve it, but I didn’t enjoy handing it out. Come on, up you get.” I stood shakily with the help of Chris and for a moment we both just stood there, unsure of what to do. Chris looked intently at me before seemingly coming to a decision and enveloping me into a warm hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Comment and leave kudos if you did! They are highy appreciated and always makes me want to write more and update faster. 
> 
> If you ahve any thoughts on what you think will happen next I would be happy to hear them!


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